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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and thank you for listening to your

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Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each

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Speaker 1: day to learn more about God and his will for us.

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Speaker 1: One too many rejections can make us want to give

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Speaker 1: up on relationships, but my book Reframing Rejection, how looking

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Speaker 1: through a different lens changes everything, teaches us not to

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Speaker 1: give up. I'm your host, Jessica venrocol and after this

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Speaker 1: short word from our sponsor, will continue our lunch series

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Speaker 1: when God Meets Us in the Wilderness with today's Bible Verse,

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Speaker 1: John Chapter nineteen, verse thirty. Today's Bible Verses, John nineteen,

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Speaker 1: verse thirty. When he had received the drink, Jesus said

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Speaker 1: it is finished. With that, he bowed his head and

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Speaker 1: gave up his spirit. You can almost hear the pen

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Speaker 1: scratch across the pages of a journal. Heartache, confusion, and

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Speaker 1: despair sound like I don't know how to keep going.

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Speaker 1: Another entry reads today felt harder than yesterday. The journal

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Speaker 1: becomes a safe place to express the thoughts and feelings

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Speaker 1: that feel way too loud for everyday life. But then

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Speaker 1: one day a small shift happens and we write I

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Speaker 1: made it through today, And then several pages later we

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Speaker 1: find I noticed the sunshine felt warm through the car window,

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Speaker 1: and then like a whisper, Maybe God hasn't left me

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Speaker 1: after all. Nothing dramatic happened overnight. Change didn't appear like

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Speaker 1: a lightning bolt in the night sky. It was a

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Speaker 1: slow and steady work of God in a hurting heart.

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Speaker 1: Day after day. It might have sounded like the end

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Speaker 1: when Jesus said it is finished, but it was really

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Speaker 1: the turning point in God's hands. Sorrow and difficulty can

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Speaker 1: seem like they have the final word, but God can

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Speaker 1: make all things new. Those journal entries reveal a journey

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Speaker 1: from helplessness to the quiet realization of God's presence, mirroring

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Speaker 1: how God meets us in our own wilderness moments. At

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Speaker 1: this point in our journey, we find ourselves viewing Jesus

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Speaker 1: on the cross. Jesus, the perfect god Man, is nailed

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Speaker 1: to the cross to pay the price for our sin

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Speaker 1: and to bridge the gap between a holy God and

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Speaker 1: a sinful people. Jesus drank sour wine, which was alcohol

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Speaker 1: which had changed to vinegar by the formation of acetic acid.

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Speaker 1: He drank it from a sponge. Then he spoke his

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Speaker 1: final words, it is finished. Bowed his head gave up

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Speaker 1: his spirit. This pivotal event marks the culmination of his

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Speaker 1: earthly mission. But there are a few things to note.

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Speaker 1: The phrase it is finished was not said in desperation,

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Speaker 1: but in triumph. Three simple words declared christ finished work

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Speaker 1: on the Cross. Jesus had fulfilled his earthly mission to

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Speaker 1: reconcile us to God. He fulfilled the Old Testament's prophecy

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Speaker 1: about the Messiah's suffering. He secured the decisive victory over

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Speaker 1: Satan and his network of demons. These words it is

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Speaker 1: finished are a declaration of victory, not defeat. Through Christ's

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Speaker 1: finished work, we are invited into a new relationship with God,

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Speaker 1: unburdened by guilt and shame. Jesus achieved the means of

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Speaker 1: restoring God's relationship with his creation and sinful humanity. Nothing

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Speaker 1: can be or needs to be added to Jesus's finished

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Speaker 1: work on the Cross. He endured our penalty for our

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Speaker 1: offenses and rebellion against God. All who accept Christ's sacrifice

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Speaker 1: and yield their lives to him receive God's forgiveness and

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Speaker 1: eternal life. Through faith in Jesus, we can have full

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Speaker 1: access to God. It is finished comes from a Greek

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Speaker 1: word meaning to bring to a close. While it sounds

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Speaker 1: like it was over and hope it vanished, what really

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Speaker 1: happened is the start of our new beginning. No more

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Speaker 1: do we have to be slaves to sin and unrighteousness.

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Speaker 1: No longer do we have to let guilt, shame, and

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Speaker 1: despair have the final word. Jesus became the target for

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Speaker 1: God's wrath and judgment of sin. He who knew no

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Speaker 1: sin became sin so we might become the righteousness of God.

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Speaker 1: When Jesus said I thirst, the worst was over. The beatings,

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Speaker 1: the abandonment, the pain, theiration. The price had been paid,

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Speaker 1: and he was ready to announce it. When a lost

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Speaker 1: person says I thirst, the worst is over. Because they're

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Speaker 1: bringing their thirsty soul to Jesus and he satisfies their thirst,

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Speaker 1: the winners cry it is finished. Sin has lost, Jesus

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Speaker 1: has one. Despair and heartache don't have the final word.

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Speaker 1: Charles Spurgeon writes, has he finished his work for me?

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Speaker 1: Then I must get to work for him, and I

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Speaker 1: must persevere until I finish my work too, not to

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Speaker 1: save myself. But that is all done. But because I

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Speaker 1: am saved today, embrace the hope Christ offers let his

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Speaker 1: victory on the cross transform your perspective, allowing you to

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Speaker 1: say it is finished and move forward in faith. Let's pray,

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Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, thank you so much for all that you've

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Speaker 1: done for us on the cross. That the words it

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Speaker 1: is finished didn't mean that that there was still despair

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Speaker 1: or hope to be had, but it is finishment. It

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Speaker 1: was an end to despair and hopelessness. God, Thank you, Lord.

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Speaker 1: We praise your name. Lord. We receive your gift. Lord.

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Speaker 1: We believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth

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Speaker 1: that you are Lord. Lord. Let us live for you today.

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Speaker 1: Let us trust to you that you're meeting us in

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Speaker 1: our wilderness. In Jesus name, we pray Amen,